The invention relates to a piece of furniture having a seat portion and a supporting substructure.
Pieces of furniture, such as armchairs or sofas, typically have an upholstered seat portion for actually sitting on as well as a substructure, e.g., a supporting base in the case of armchairs or a supporting traverse in the case of sofas, to which the seat portion is attached and which serves as a framework.
This substructure, also referred to as a concealed framework for a piece of furniture or upholstered item, also refers to the framework or frame which typically is substantially or completely covered by the covering upholstery. Thus, concealed frameworks do not generally impact upon the appearance of the material. However, to some extent, it is possible that parts of the concealed framework may be visible, such as the base or panels.
It is conventional for the seat portion(s) to be fixedly screwed or welded to the respective substructure during production; only the seat cushions themselves are fitted in such a manner as to be removable. However the substructure, e.g., the supporting base or the supporting traverse, has a considerable weight owing to the mechanical loads acting upon it and its function as a support. The furniture is also relatively large in size owing to the substructure, and the piece of furniture is thus unwieldy.
The weight and size create problems when transporting the furniture to customers. It is not easy to move, for example, a complete sofa via a staircase. Also, when transporting the unfinished furniture from the manufacturer of the supporting portions to the upholsterer, previously the base and traverse also had to be transported with it. This is unfavourable since these portions are obviously not required during upholstering and may possibly even complicate the upholstering process itself. However, it is not readily possible to connect the supporting base or traverses only after upholstering since the upholstery could be damaged thereby.
Omitting a traverse and/or using smaller units is also not a satisfactory solution since as of yet the units cannot be connected together satisfactorily in order to prevent, e.g., the parts coming apart. Assembling the portions on site is also not practical since correspondingly trained and suitable personnel have to be available for this job, which is not always the case.